Creating Psychological Safety at Work
Starting with your Leadership Teams
Psychological safety at work isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the foundation for creativity, problem-solving, and healthy challenge. When your team feels safe to speak up, share half-formed ideas, admit mistakes, or ask the uncomfortable questions — you unlock real trust and performance.
Some of the smartest, most capable people in your business are staying silent. Not because they don’t care — but because they don’t feel safe.
So how do you create that? Let’s start with what safety actually means.
What Psychological Safety at Work Really Means
It means your team knows they can express opinions — even the unfinished ones. They understand they can ask questions without fear of judgment. They feel comfortable enough to challenge ideas respectfully, admit when they don’t know, and speak up at meetings.
They trust that you’re open. You’re fallible. You’re not trying to look perfect — and you don’t expect them to be perfect either.
All of this begins with approachability, emotional honesty, and communication habits that consistently build trust.
How Do People Know You’re Safe?
Ask yourself:
- How do I know when I can trust someone?
- What signals do I pick up from their body language, tone, or words?
Your team is making the same judgments about you — constantly. They assess you through your tone, your attention, and your reactions.
Are you open or closed? Are you calm or reactive? Are you curious or distracted?
These micro-signals matter. People don’t expect perfection, but they look for consistency.
Psychological safety at work starts when people feel you are both competent and caring.
Behaviour Has Meaning — Look for the Message
People are not their behaviour. Every action has a positive intention — even when it’s clumsy or frustrating. When someone goes quiet in a meeting or dominates a conversation, there’s often something deeper going on.
Leaders who want their teams to grow must create space for mistakes, questions, and recalibration.
Share your story too. Let them see your own missteps and what you’ve learned.
“I’ve been there.” “I made that mistake too.” “Here’s what I learned the hard way.”
That kind of vulnerability is what opens the door to growth.
What People Fear Most
After 20 years of coaching, I’ve seen the same fear surface in all kinds of teams: the fear of not being enough.
They worry about losing face. getting it wrong. or being seen as inefficient or incapable.
To be a psychologically safe leader, begin here:
- Show people they don’t have to be perfect
- Sit with them while they’re learning
- Offer feedback as support, not criticism
- Celebrate learning as much as achievement
Sometimes the simplest act of reassurance is saying, “Let’s figure this out over coffee.”
That one phrase can shift someone from guarded to open, from nervous to engaged.
Coaching Language Builds Safety
When something feels off — whether it’s a performance dip or a communication gap — step into coaching mode.
Pause instead of reacting. Respond with empathy. Ask more, tell less.
Try phrases like:
- “I’ve been there too. Want to talk through what’s going on?”
- “What support would help you feel more confident here?”
- “Let’s map out a way forward together.”
This is how you create psychological safety in leadership teams — through language, empathy, and honest reflection.
And if you’re leading a team, your voice is your most powerful tool.
Use a calm, warm, low-pressure tone. Model how to give and receive feedback. Show up consistently as the safe example others can learn from.
Train the Team to Create a Coaching Culture
Don’t carry the responsibility for safety alone. Train your team to build it with you.
- Normalise feedback conversations
- Encourage curiosity over certainty
- Ask more open questions than closed ones
- Share stories that reflect vulnerability and learning
When everyone speaks the same coaching language, the culture shifts. Trust grows. Performance follows.
And don’t forget humour. People relax when they laugh. They connect when you laugh at yourself. Safe teams don’t take themselves too seriously — they take their growth seriously.
Shared Responsibility: Safety Starts Within
While leaders create the space, teams must also meet them there.
It’s the team’s responsibility to contribute to psychological safety at work by developing resilience, building self-trust, and speaking up about what matters. That means coaching themselves through their own doubts, grounding themselves in what’s true, and raising issues when something doesn’t sit right — even if it’s hard to do.
Encourage your team to own their voice. Invite them to see safety as a two-way agreement: you provide the openness, they bring the courage.
When both sides lean in, real growth happens.
Want to Build This Into Your Team?
At Zenith Training, we coach teams to create psychological safety at work — not as a concept, but as a leadership habit.
We work with HR teams, senior leaders, and founders who want to:
- Build high-performing leadership teams
- Shift from control to coaching
- Create cultures of trust and contribution
Book a free discovery call to explore how we can support your team’s development.
Read about Communication at Work
Meet the Executive Coach — based in Dublin, coaching globally
Psychological safety doesn’t slow performance. It’s the key that unlocks it.
When people feel safe, they speak up.
And when they speak up, the whole business gets smarter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter